The six-time Pro Bowl center and former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year was named the league's director of football development today.

Birk spent this past year working as an appeals officer for the NFL and NFL Players Association after retiring in 2012 following the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Now the former Ravens and Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman will be involved in development of the game and administration of game-day operations. Birk also will work with the NFL scouting combine and regional scouting combines as well as the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine all-star games.

“I’m very excited to begin this next chapter of my football career,” Birk said in a statement. “It’s a real honor for me to be entrusted with developing the game in so many different ways.”

Birk also will be involved with the NFL Career Development Symposium and the NFL-NCAA Future Football Coaches Academy initiative; supervise the Bill Walsh minority coaching fellowship program; and serve as a liaison for the Football Operations department, working with international development of the game and NFL High School Player Development program.

Birk graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and will be based at NFL headquarters in New York.

“Matt’s experience as a terrific NFL player, a model citizen in his community and a reputation as a forward-thinking leader make him ideally suited for this role,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said. “There is no doubt he will continue to make a positive impact on our game and be a trusted advocate for those who play and coach at every level.”

In addition to keeping up with his six kids and working for the NFL as an appeals officer on player discipline, Matt Birk has apparently become even more of a fitness nut in retirement than he was as a player.